Best place for CG along roll axis

Mxsmanic wrote in
:

After constantly struggling with a heavy nose in several aircraft it
occurred to me that having a fat pilot in front and nothing else was
moving the CG forward. I put some weight in back and moved the CG
further back over the wings, and handling improved greatly. Is there
a way (other than consulting a manual each time) to determine exactly
where over the wing is the best place for the CG? MSFS is kind enough
to show me a diagram with the current CG marked, but I don't know how
far back I should try to place it.

Does MSFS let you set the weight of the pilot? That's kinda neat. I wish I
could do the same in real life!

The diagram you see probably represents the CG envelope, which is what most
pilots use too. As long as you're in the envelope, you're safe. Front side of
the envelope is more stable, rear side is less stable. Think of an arrow - if
you weigh down the tip it will fly straighter, if you weigh down the feather
it will fly faster.

This is all basic flight training stuff. I would recommend the book "Stick
and Rudder" as a good starting place.

"Judah" wrote in message
. ..
Mxsmanic wrote in
:

Does MSFS let you set the weight of the pilot? That's kinda neat. I wish I
could do the same in real life!


The FAA says I weight 170 lbs. Who am I to argue?

"Steve Foley" wrote in news:R4xRg.213422
:

"Judah" wrote in message
. ..
Mxsmanic wrote in
:

Does MSFS let you set the weight of the pilot? That's kinda neat. I wish I
could do the same in real life!


The FAA says I weight 170 lbs. Who am I to argue?

I think I remember when I weighed 170lbs. I was in 7th grade.

Judah writes:

Does MSFS let you set the weight of the pilot?

It depends on the aircraft. Some just have one station for which you
set a total weight. Others have many stations for which you can set
individual weights. For example, in a Baron 58, you can set the
weight of the person in each seat, plus the baggage at the back.

For large commercial jets there is sometimes a complete planning page
where you can set weights at many different stations in the aircraft.

That's kinda neat. I wish I could do the same in real life!

It makes it easy to set weights in the aircraft, but unfortunately it
doesn't tell you how to get everything balanced correctly.

The diagram you see probably represents the CG envelope, which is what most
pilots use too. As long as you're in the envelope, you're safe. Front side of
the envelope is more stable, rear side is less stable. Think of an arrow - if
you weigh down the tip it will fly straighter, if you weigh down the feather
it will fly faster.

That's what I seem to notice, but it took me a while to realize why
some aircraft were pitching upward on their own and others were
pitching downward.

One thing I wonder is this: If I'm alone in the aircraft, in the left
seat at the front, can I put an counterbalancing weight in the rear
seat on the right, or would putting weight in a diagonally opposed
position make the aircraft unstable? If it works, it would be easier
to balance things; I could throw some sandbags in the right rear
corner of the aircraft to balance my weight.

This is all basic flight training stuff. I would recommend the book "Stick
and Rudder" as a good starting place.

I looked for it at the pilot's store Thursday, but I couldn't find it.
It's hard to find English specialty books here.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

Mxsmanic wrote in
:

One thing I wonder is this: If I'm alone in the aircraft, in the left
seat at the front, can I put an counterbalancing weight in the rear
seat on the right, or would putting weight in a diagonally opposed
position make the aircraft unstable? If it works, it would be easier
to balance things; I could throw some sandbags in the right rear
corner of the aircraft to balance my weight.

It's not unheard of for a pilot to counterbalance weight in the plane if
necessary, especially in some models that are noseheavy, let's say because of
a three-blade prop. CG refers to forward/aft. I don't believe that weight &
balance for left & right side of a plane is of major concern, even on the big
planes...

This is all basic flight training stuff. I would recommend the book
"Stick and Rudder" as a good starting place.

I looked for it at the pilot's store Thursday, but I couldn't find it.
It's hard to find English specialty books here.

You can probably find it on EBay or half.com...

Mxsmanic wrote:

If I'm alone in the aircraft, in the left
seat at the front, can I put an counterbalancing weight in the rear
seat on the right, or would putting weight in a diagonally opposed
position make the aircraft unstable?


Yes, it would be slightly better to do it that way, since it moves the
CG to the center of the A/C. It would only cause instabilty at
EXTREMELY high roll rates. I ran one of my tanks dry once, when I
needed to change a leaky drain. The other tank was nearly full. It took
a fair amount of aileron to overcome the weight difference, but not
even close to the maximum. CG's off the centerline have only minimal
effect on pitch, and should not have a noticable effect on elevator
position.

Bud